Your Right to Know

CONWAY, MASS. — A chemist who worked at a Massachusetts state drug lab was indicted yesterday on
state charges of tampering with evidence and stealing cocaine held in evidence, in the second case
against a state chemist in recent months.

Sonja Farak, who has been suspended with pay from her position at the state lab in western
Massachusetts, was charged with theft of a controlled substance from an authorized dispensary and
tampering with evidence, as well as possession of a Class B substance, Massachusetts Attorney
General Martha Coakley said in a statement.

Farak, 35, was arrested in January on charges related to her work at the Amherst Drug
Laboratory, about 90 miles west of Boston. She pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering and drug
possession.

Her arrest came a month after another state drug lab chemist, Annie Dookhan, was indicted on
charges of falsifying evidence in thousands of drug cases, resulting in the release of hundreds of
people who had been convicted on related charges.

Last week, a state court judge ordered the suspension of the sentences of eight imprisoned men
due to the questions about Farak’s evidence handling, according to local media.